Sometimes, good things really do come to those who wait.

And to those who have a good strategy.

Some of you might remember my previous posts about The Great Job Hunt. The quest has finally come to an end.

I will be officially employed as of Nov. 5 as a communications specialist for a local city government where I live, running their social media pages and writing and editing documents and information for residents, among other things.

How did I finally get a job, after submitting nearly 30 job applications in the past 15 months or so?

I did it with patience, professionalism and experience.

We moved to a completely new place in August of 2017. We didn’t know a single person here. I had often worked during my spouse’s military career. I have years of experience in my career field, both full-time and part-time, and as a freelancer. I never had any problem finding a job. In fact, up until my most recent attempts, I was hired for every job I ever applied for.

Post-retirement, I figured it would be just as easy. I have years of experience as a journalist, writer and communicator. I’ve worked around the world as a journalist and writer. My resume is extensive. And now, finally, I was in one place, with no threat of moving in a year or two or three. Now, I thought, I’d be even more attractive to employers.

I quickly discovered that wasn’t the case. First, my last full-time job was in 2012. Second, I didn’t have any local connections.

I knew I needed a better plan. So I decided to continue freelance writing, and, more importantly, do some volunteer work.

I’ve never been a firm believer in the philosophy that volunteer work will help get you a job. I’ve had dozens of military- and unit-related volunteer “jobs,” but I rarely bother to include those in my resume.

While volunteering is extremely important and rewarding, it typically matters little or nothing to potential employers.

Here’s the exception: Volunteer work in your specific career field can matter a lot. In my case, it was a key reason I got this job.

How did I make this happen? I went to volunteermatch.org and searched for a position with a duty description as close as possible to the paid job I wanted to secure. I was lucky and found an almost exact match with a downtown revitalization organization in the heart of my new town.

That volunteer work gave me three crucial things I needed to succeed in my job hunt. The first was recent, relevant experience. The second was local references. The third was a product I could show prospective employers.

And last week, I ended up with two job offers on the same day.

Here are six other tips I learned during The Great Job Hunt that might help you, too:

1. Target your application. At first, I was applying to any job that seemed remotely a good fit. That quickly became frustrating. I decided to be more thoughtful about the process. Not only did I narrow down my applications to positions that I was closely qualified for, I also determined which companies and organizations I would most want to work for. In the interviews for both jobs I was offered, I was able to honestly answer the question of why I wanted to work there. I knew both organizations fairly well, and had a good idea of whether I would fit and whether I would enjoy the company culture.
2. Don’t be afraid to follow up. Nearly all applications are done online, and go through automatic sorting by keyword and other data. Every time I sent in an application, I did my best to find the direct supervisor, or as close as I could tell from Googling. I then emailed that person a cover letter and a copy of my resume. Often I followed up with a phone call, too.
3. Tailor your resume to each specific application. I spent hours sometimes doing this. And don’t just base it off the job posting – do some research on the company to find out what they do and what their mission is. Pay attention to what kind of language they use on their website and other written content. And, of course, try to include as many keywords from the job posting as you can, without it being a direct copy.
4. Include samples of your work, or cite specific achievements for each job listed on your resume. This was a hard one for me as I’ve never really been in a job that had specific goals or targets to meet. But I was able to come up with a few key achievements, and I did have writing samples.
5. Make connections. Make sure everyone you meet knows you are looking for a job. Tell people at your kids’ school, people you volunteer with, your neighbors, your church, the cashier at the liquor store. Anybody and everybody.
6. Most importantly, have a plan. If you are fortunate enough to be able to wait for a great job, do so. Don’t rush into something if you don’t have to. Figure out the best way to get where you want to be, and make that happen.

Political jokes, risqué costumes and grotesque props – oh my!

Halloween celebrated in bad taste at the office is the scariest ghoul you may encounter this season.

Halloween can be really fun in the workplace. We’ve all entered an office or store where the employees have banded together to create a whimsical group costume that makes their customers smile or even giggle.

But we’ve all also entered the scariest of haunts, the workplace that leaves its employees to their own devices on this potentially dangerous holiday.

Sure, most employees toe the line of civility and class. But there is always, always someone who leaves their fellow workers in the scary predicament of needing to decide who is going to politely explain that the sexy vampire costume is simply not appropriate. Nor, does it fit well.

Not sure if your costume is workplace appropriate? Follow these rules:

No politics – None. Period. The current political atmosphere is so emotionally charged that there are reports of voting trends ripping families apart. Wearing a costume to make fun of a politician you don’t support might cause feuding in the office or mark Halloween to be your last day on the job.

Skin – Don’t show it. Halloween does not mean all workplace dress codes are tossed to the winds. If your costume would be too short on a normal workday, it’s too short on Halloween. The same goes for the top half of the costume. If it’s too revealing, leave it at home.

Offensive – Does your costume make fun of a particular group of people? Then absolutely don’t wear it to the office. You might want to re-consider wearing it at all, anywhere. That’s just not nice.

Terrifying – Do you love Halloween because it gives you a reason to stream every scary movie in existence for 31 days straight? Great! But not everyone loves the ghoulish side of the celebration. Keep the spilling guts and ripped skin costumes away from the office.

Want to be the office Halloween hero? Think smart, creative and unusual rather than sexy and ghoulish. Need some ideas? Visit www.pinterest.com and type in the phrase office Halloween costumes for a neverending stream of creative, and simple, costume ideas for the workplace.  

My supervisor just spoke to me for a good 15 minutes and I can’t really tell you what he said or why he was hovering over my desk.

Sure, I nodded, smiled, made eye contact and remember even laughing at his jokes. But internally, I was still re-writing the last line of my report, making a list of all the clients I still had to contact before 5 p.m. and trying desperately to remember what we had in the freezer at home that could make a quick meal before soccer practice.

Employees are often stretched thin, especially working parents who may leave the house to work but never fully leave the long, lingering list of parenting and homeowner to do’s far from their mind.

The experts tell us to meditate and focus. These catch phrases make me laugh. With the ever-growing daily list of things I must do I barely have time to run to the restroom, let alone catch a few quiet moments to myself.

But, you can practice being more mindful both on the job and at home. Mindfulness if the act of being aware of the present, which can be harder than it sounds.

Sure, my boss and I were engaged in conversation and while I was listening to him I wasn’t hearing him. Instead, I was thinking about everything else I had to do. Practicing mindfulness means to make an effort to realize your thoughts are wondering away from the current conversation and concentrate fully on the conversation. It takes intent to refocus your thoughts and attention.

Another way to practice mindfulness? Don’t multi-task. It doesn’t work and in fact studies show it makes us less productive. One task at a time, one focus.

Want to learn more about practicing mindfulness on the job? Visit www.mindful.org for tips and mindful exercises you can practice just about anywhere.

The job hunt continues, one year on.

I’ve been told I’m underqualified. I’ve been told I’m overqualified. I’ve been told I was a top candidate but was missing one key piece of experience.

At one point I was even told, off the record, that at 50 years of age I am too old for a job in marketing or social media.

My main effort, though, has been put toward writing and journalism jobs, my stock and trade for the past 25 years.

And I think I’ve finally discovered the real reason I haven’t gotten a job, despite well over two dozen applications in the past year. What’s the secret? It all goes back to that saying we’ve all heard: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

So I decided to take a big step to change that. This week I attended the Military Influencers Conference, or MIC. The annual event was held in Orlando this year, which is just an hour from my house.

I didn’t know a single person there, although there were a few I “knew” from Facebook or mutual friends.

I left with the names and emails of a dozen people to send my resume, and a long list of others to contact.

MIC is touted as “an exciting, dynamic event that brings together hundreds of spouses, community leaders, entrepreneurs, and influencers united by a passion for the military.”

An influencer is a person with credibility and the ability to reach a large number of people in a certain market, field or area. That person is considered to have enough pull to influence the way people think, the products that they buy, and how others view their industry, products or brand, among other things.

The conference included more than 350 attendees, over 30 exhibitors and some 35 speakers, panels and round-table discussions. The focus was on veterans, active duty personnel, military spouses, and those whose business, organization or product serve that sector.

Many were entrepreneurs or freelancers. Others came from well-established brands in the military world, or the nonprofit sector.

Really, though, we were all there to network. While the presentations were compelling, most of us spent our time connecting individually with others in our same fields. The conference had an app where you could look up each attendee’s information, including a profile picture. I’m not ashamed to admit I stalked a few people, and when I found them I just walked up and introduced myself.

That’s a little out of my comfort zone which, for me, was kind of the whole point.

What did I learn at MIC? Here are my key takeaways:

• Keep up with your previous employers and co-workers, as well as college friends or anyone else who might be able to help you find a job either now or in the future. Follow them on social media. Send them a holiday card. Know their current contact information.
• Network, network, network. Yes, we hear that all the time. But one of the key things I heard over and over again at MIC was that you also have to continue to grow your network. Join new groups that might be have people in your career field, volunteer, go to Chamber of Commerce meetings and professional organizations. ‘
• Connections are everywhere. Chat up people in the grocery store, at your kid’s school and on airplanes. Let your parents brag about you to their friends – they just may know someone who knows someone.
• Don’t be afraid to sell yourself. Have a standard 30-second “elevator pitch” prepared that you can spout off anywhere – like in the grocery line, or at that PTA meeting or on the airplane.
• Learn who the influencers are in your career field or area of interest. Follow them. If you can, try to meet them in one way or another.
• Always carry business cards, even if they just have your name and contact information on them. MIC made me realize I should carry some of my husband’s, too. You never know when an opportunity might present itself!

If your summer PCS has left you jobless and you’ve had no luck hitting the pavement, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits, depending on the state you live in.

Unemployment compensation programs are mandated and run by individual state governments and each have their own set of rules. Eligible unemployed workers receive weekly checks to hold them over until they do find a job and may qualify for other benefits. Generally this compensation is not given to workers who voluntarily quit their jobs.

However, some states offer what is known as “good cause” exceptions to the rule, including quitting  job to PCS with a military member or even to follow a civilian spouse to a new job in a new area.

Here is the 2014 list of state benefit rules:

• Alabama (military transfer only)
• Alaska (any job transfer, including military)
• Arizona (miitary transfer only)
• Arkansas (any job transfer, including military)
• California (any job transfer, including military)
• Colorado (military transfer only)
• Connecticut (any job transfer, including military)
• Delaware (any job transfer, including military)
• D.C. (any job transfer, including military)
• Florida (military transfer only)
• Georgia (military transfer only)
• Hawaii (any job transfer, including military)
• Illinois (any job transfer, including military)
• Indiana (any job transfer, including military)
• Iowa (military transfer only)
• Kansas (military transfer only)
• Kentucky (military transfer only)
• Maine (any job transfer, including military)
• Maryland (military transfer only)
• Massachusetts (any job transfer, including military)
• Michigan (military transfer only)
• Minnesota (any job transfer, including military)
• Mississippi (military transfer only)
• Missouri (military transfer only)
• Montana (military transfer only)
• Nebraska (any job transfer, including military)
• Nevada (any job transfer, including military)
• New Hampshire (any job transfer, including military)
• New Jersey (military transfer only)
• New Mexico (military transfer only)
• New York (any job transfer, including military)
• North Carolina (military transfer only)
• Ohio (any job transfer, including military)
• Oklahoma (military transfer only)
• Oregon (any job transfer, including military)
• Pennsylvania (any job transfer, including military)
• Rhode Island (any job transfer, including military)
• South Carolina (any job transfer, including military)
• South Dakota (military transfer only)
• Tennessee (military transfer only)
• Texas (military transfer only)
• Utah (military transfer only)
• Virginia (military transfer only)
• Virgin Islands (any job transfer, including military)
• Washington (any job transfer, including military)
• West Virginia (military transfer only)
• Wisconsin (any job transfer, including military)
• Wyoming (military transfer only)

These laws are subject to change at any time, check with the individual state for the most current information. To file for unemployment benefits visit your state office as soon as possible after your PCS. To find your state office visit: https://www.dol.gov/general/location

I woke up in Tokyo around 2 a.m., my bed shaking. Earthquake.

In Hawaii we had a gripping hour-long wait after a tsunami warning was issued and then recalled.

In North Carolina a vicious winter storm brought the entire east coast to a standstill. We were left without electricity for nearly a week. We didn’t have blankets or warm clothes either since the storm delayed our household goods’ delivery.

Now on the Gulf Coast, hurricane a’ coming. We’ve dragged the outdoor toys and furniture into the shed, parked cars away from heavy tree limbs, filled our cupboards and hoped for the best.

Military families have the distinct pleasure of moving not just between states but also weather patterns, and often, dangerous weather conditions.

Tornadoes and hurricanes and ice sheets, oh my!

Rule number one, don’t panic.

If you PCS’d this summer and haven’t looked over the website or Facebook page of the local National Weather Service, do. Get a feel for what weather emergencies or Mother Nature created havoc happens frequently in your new region.

Look over evacuation routes. Know where to call or go for help. Devise a plan.

Our schools released before lunch today so buses would not be caught in the onslaught of rain. My kids know if the rain has begun to fall, stay put, I’ll be in carline. If the skies are still dry, hop on the bus and head home. We had a plan. We followed it.

Discuss possible emergency situations with your children and your spouse. Be aware of local options and be willing to follow the advice of local responders. When they say evacuate, it’s not a suggestion. They know the area well, they know where the water rises.

Knowledge is power. When you know what you are doing, and why, as disaster strikes you will have a better chance of moving your family to safety.

On the eighth day of school my son stormed the counselor’s office and demanded to change his schedule to the most rigorous and difficult track of courses available.

I questioned whether he had managed to loose his sanity in just the second week of sophomore year. But I also wasn’t surprised. He had been urged to choose those courses months earlier. Now, two weeks into the semester, he realized that the classes he had selected were not challenging enough.

He was forced to utter a dreaded teenage phrase, he was wrong, his counselor was right.

I was surprised when she agreed to take on the challenge of moving his schedule which would require extra effort by her, the teachers and him, who now had eight days of homework to complete in one weekend.

She said she was willing for one reason and one reason only: he had found his path and he was ready to take it.

His wishy washy class choices were a disappointment to those who knew him. They advised my honor student to sign up for the intense course track, to challenge himself more. But at the time, he was unsure of himself and his choices.

Over the summer, something clicked. And by the second week of school he knew the choices he had been mulling for three long months were the right ones.

He had a clear path in mind, of a career, of a list of schools he would like to apply to, even of a backup plan if everything came crashing down, as it often does. And on the eighth day of sophomore year, he was ready to put that plan in motion.

The moral of the story? Listen to your academic advisor.

High schools and colleges have counselors and academic advisors at the ready for their students. These people are more than simply someone with a list of courses and corresponding classroom numbers. They are trained to review your schedule, your goals and help you develop a plan that will grow you academically and personally.

They can help you meet your goals. But first, you have to listen to them.

As the fall semester begins, visit your academic advisor. Let them get to know you and you future hopes and dreams. They can help you make them a reality.

And be sure to listen to their advice, and take it.

Are you exhausted? I’m exhausted.

We are in week two of the school year and I can barely keep my eyes open. Our days have been a blur of back to school activities, packing lunches, (attempting) to make descent breakfasts, homework and a return to evening practices for every sport and activity imaginable.

And this is just what we have to do to manage our children’s school year. Any of us adults heading back to school this fall will have to add managing our own classroom studies and activities on top of the list.

It’s a lot. But there is a magic word to help: lists.

We have five children and two very busy, full-time careers. Lists are my BFF.

Each night I end my evening by reviewing the day’s to-do list and compiling one for tomorrow.

It allows me space to breathe, prioritize and give myself easy guidance to turn to when I’m feeling flustered. In our house, if a task doesn’t make the list, it simply doesn’t happen. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t add the phrases, “bath time” and “make snacks” to my list. Because I do.

And that’s what I love about lists.

When I sit by myself to write up the list I am able to think through how I hope tomorrow will go. Notice, I said hope, for plans change, often. It rains. Practice is cancelled. The school nurse calls. To the doc we go. The dog gets loose and the whole day is shot as you drive up and down the neighborhood calling his name.

My lists help manage that chaos. After I’ve triaged the unplanned events of the day, I can turn to my list to see what I’ve missed and what I can still salvage of my plan.

At the end of the day, I have a nice list to reference of items that didn’t get completed, and add those to tomorrow, or even another day. I include not just appointments, but what needs picked up at the store that day, what phone calls need made, what meals are on the menu and even whose laundry day it is in our house.

Turns out, making a list has mental health benefits as well. Psychology Today says making a list has the following benefits:

1. Provide a positive psychological process whereby questions and confusions can be worked through. True purposes surface.
2. Foster a capacity to select and prioritize. This is useful for an information-overload situation.
3. Separate minutia from what matters, which is good for identity as well as achievement.
4. Help determine the steps needed. That which resonates informs direction and plan.
5. Combat avoidance. Taking abstract to concrete sets the stage for commitment and action. Especially if you add self-imposed deadlines.
6. Organize and contain a sense of inner chaos, which can make your load feel more manageable.

I say making a list brings peace. At the end of the day I have a sense of achievement as I look at everything I can cross off the paper. And, I can fall asleep easier without being shaken awake, suddenly remembering something that has to be done. It’s already on my list.

So, grab a notepad and make your list. Meanwhile, I’m going to go cross writing this blog off of mine. 

Have you shopped outside the gate lately? Did you feel a slight sticker shock at the price of even the simplest of items?

That’s because prices are rising and it could be bad news for all of us.

CNN reported that the Consumer Price Index, which tracks the cost of common shopping list items, rose 2.9 percent in June, the biggest jump since 2012. Paychecks, however, have not increased at the same rate. The report also says average hourly earnings only increased 2.7 percent. If you fall in this category, it means you can’t buy more, you are just paying more for what you already buy.

In the same time period, sales at commissaries have fallen 21.3 percent since 2012.

Read that again, the military commissary, which military families have routinely named as the second most valued benefit after health care, is not being used as much by military families.

And as far as the calculator pushers at the federal government are concerned, use it, or lose it.

While both the Department of Defense and Congress don’t want to do away with the commissary, they do want it to cost less, according to Military.com.

The DOD wants to lower the amount of money it gives for commissary operations from $1.4 billion in 2017 to $400 million by 2021. The only way to do that? Generate more sales.

That won’t happen if more of us are headed out the front gate to do our shopping. Experts say the commissary is also competing with meal order services. And there is the long-standing argument of just how much you save shopping at the commissary vs big box chains such as Walmart.

We would argue the value is enough for all of us to make shopping at the commissary a priority.

Military life is inconsistent. Changes are constant. Move is inevitable. One constant: the commissary. You can rely on the commissary to keep prices constant and affordable, even when you move to a duty station like Hawaii where staples like milk can cost $6 – 8 a gallon in a civilian store.

You also rely on those constant low prices when you leave your job in the next PCS move and your family drops to a one-income household for what could be months. Few other stores outside the gate can help you stretch your dollar as far as the commissary.

The bottom line: shop at your commissary. We guarantee you will miss it when it’s gone.

Midterm elections are coming. That means political campaigns need workers, lots of them. And a fast-paced, never-ending push to Election Day could easily fill your resume with praise.

Job-finding sites like Indeed.com and Monster.com have a plethora of campaign job listings. The best of those positions are paid well. Most, however, are volunteer work or if they are paid, are lower level jobs that require a lot of hours hoofing it around neighborhoods or cold calling voters.

Still, a political campaign is a great way to fill your resume. This work takes dedication and attention to detail. Since campaign work can be filled with a who’s who of local celebrities, serving with a campaign can also be an excellent way to network for your next job.

And, if you catch the bug to continue working in politics after the election, you can attend a campaign training session to better prepare you for the next round of elections and even score a paying gig.

The Campaign Workshop, which specializes in campaign and advocacy training, is a great place to start your search for campaign training. Their website, www.thecampaignworkshop.com outlines the cost and location of some of the best campaign training programs in the nation.

Also, check with your local university. Many public affairs schools offer seminars and lecture series to help you kick start your political campaign career.